(Renamed the cast so they seem more... flamboyant.)
"Rar. You're the one with the map. So don't get us lost, alright?" Saldair said. The group was currently in a forest, traveling south.
"Right, right! If we are currently south of Venichian... then we should be in the... barbaric tribes?" Rar said, with confusion in his voice. The group looked worried as he said, barbaric tribes.
"We're in barbaric land right now? Why haven't the other kingdoms done anything about this?" Sodror asked.
"That's how strong they are. They've managed to fend off the entire central peninsula."
"Wow. Are we not gonna make it out of here alive, then?" Julian questioned, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Rar completely ignored his question.
"I'm scared..."
"Don't worry, Lyrei. I'll protect you!" Rar said, a stupid smile plastered on his face. Julian looked irritated in the conversation, but he kept his feelings aside.
Rar took a deeper look into his map and then pulled out his book. It had information on several different countries and other territories. "Despite it being full of barbarians, there are some villages. The barbarians are nice to a very select few people."
"Where'd you get that book from?" Julian asked, simply out of pure curiosity. His knowledge of where Rar got it from wouldn't change anything at all.
"The library."
Sodror's eyebrow rose. He had been all around the village, yet he did not remember there being a library. Sure, books would be sold at shops occasionally, but there wasn't any building that was meant to be used as a library. "The library? I don't remember there being a library in the village."
"You didn't see it? On the left of the bakery."
Saldair decided to take a peek at the book. "What the hell? This doesn't look professional at all. It's handwritten and there are stains everywhere!"
"But it works. So let's just use it."
Silva sighed.
"I'm getting tired. Can we set camp here?" Lyrei whined, pouting. Julian turned back, glaring at Lyrei. But Lyrei only paid attention to Rar's short glance at her.
"Yeah. I am getting a bit tired. The night is soon to fall. We might as well get ready now, right?" Silva agreed with Lyrei. Lyrei looked back at Silva and smiled.
"To be honest, I am a bit sleepy. So, let's just set the tents up and go to sleep, alright?" Saldair added. Rar eventually gave in and agreed to their demands.
. . . . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
Night fell and the tents were finally set up.
"That took so long!" Lyrei whined, crossing her arms.
Julian flinched hearing her voice, as it got annoying to him. "That's because you kept knocking the tents down."
The group sat around a campfire. Saldair and Lyrei sang songs while Silva was staring into the night sky. Sodror and Rar were sparring like usual.
As Rar began to rest after his spar, Lyrei walked toward him with her hands behind her back. "You seem really tired, Rar."
"Hm? Yeah. I just finished fighting someone."
"To be honest, you looked pretty cool back then."
"Huh? Really?" Rar pointed at himself, with his cheeks a little red. He wasn't used to compliments like this.
"Yeah! Rar, you're really cool!" she repeated.
"Well, thanks..."
Rar was pretty nervous around Lyrei. Lyrei found it cute.
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
The night was silent. Well, fairly silent. The occasional grunting could be heard from Rar, as he swiped his blade ferociously. Julian still sat there. His expression was blank and stoic. You couldn't even tell what he was looking at. Though, he snapped out of it.
"Rar. What motivates you to swing like this?" Julian asked. He wasn't looking directly at Rar, more so only at his blade.
"Huh? I'm just swinging to... get my mind off things, that's all!" Rar sharply replied, as if he was being offended.
"You know, with you and Lyrei. I hope it goes well."
"Huh? Why are you giving up?"
"I've realized something. I'm weak. So you'd be a lot better for her."
"What? Just get stronger, then."
"You always say that! You don't understand how it feels to be talentless!"
"Whatever. If you want to stay weak, then do that."
Julian's jaw clenched. An unbridled fit of envy was brewing in him. Why did god send him to this world like this? It makes sense now. This is his hell.
"You hear that?" Rar asked.
"What are you talking about-"
A spear came charging toward Julian.
[Cast: Umbra Hands]
Black energy emitting a purple aura rose from the ground. To explain it better, shadows came from the ground, reaching to grab the spear.
Julian hyperventilated. He felt a tremendous amount of fear. He would've died right there, and there would be nothing that he could have done about it.
"It seems the barbarians have finally decided to show themselves!" Rar had a playful smirk on his face. Out of the shadows, three barbarians came out.
"That was simply a warning shot. Travelers aren't welcome here. Either you become a villager and pay a tax, or die."
"I don't really feel like paying any money. If you wake up any of my friends, I'll seriously have to punish you."
Rar picked up his sword and pointed it at the barbarians. In response, they laughed. "You're seriously underestimating us, you know?"
[Cast: Dark Flashstep]
In an instant, Rar appeared in front of the first barbarian with his sword about to slice his neck off.
"!"
[Cast: Dynamite]
A large explosion appeared in front of Rar. It caused him to step back. In the midst of the chaos, Saldair woke up and ran out of a tent.
As the smoke cleared, the barbarian sprinted toward Rar. It was an open shot. Rar was distracted by the smoke, so at this point, it was impossible to dodge.
[Cast: Iron Spear]
A spear came speeding toward the barbarian's sword, throwing it to the side. Rar looked to see who it was that helped him. It was Silva. She smiled.
"Focus, Rar!" she said. Rar nodded and quickly turned around. The barbarian was already able to pick up his sword again. All three of them came sprinting at the duo.
[Cast: Iron Trident]
[Cast: Flames of Darkness]
A trident was thrown at the group of barbarians, ignited in purple flames. It crashed right in front of them, causing a huge explosion.
"Nice! That teamwork move we learned a few years back really worked!" Rar said, excited. Though, his excitement was cut short as a barbarian was right in front of him, with his blade at his neck.
Rar parried, pushing the barbarian back.
"It seems we've underestimated you. I suppose we'll have to amp things up, huh?" one of the barbarians said.
[Cast: Time Bomb: Rapid]
Several explosions were ignited. It sent Rar and Silva back a bit, but they recovered, only to be met with more attacks.
[Cast: Arrow Rain]
Hundreds of arrows started to rain down. A few of them hit Julian, but Silva and Rar didn't take much notice of it. Julian quickly pulled the arrows out and continued to crawl toward them.
"Should we start to get serious, Silva?" Rar asked.
"Yeah. We've been treating them way too lightly. We might need to try just a bit harder."
[Cast: Iron Control]
Iron from around the area started to clump onto Rar's sword. It got heavier and Rar started to visually struggle, but he managed to hold it up.
[Cast: Flames of Darkness]
"This will be a finishing hit!" Rar said as he swung the sword.
[Cast: Shadow Slash]
Rar sliced threw the body of each barbarian, finishing them instantly.